In 1917, the U.S. Army faced a crisis. The war in Europe needed swift, secure communication, but the men couldn’t keep up. The solution? Women.
Grace Banker, Marie Miossec, and Valerie DeSmedt weren’t soldiers in the traditional sense, but they were some of the first officially sworn into the Army. Fluent in French and English, trained on switchboards, and steady under pressure, they stepped into war zones armed with nothing but headsets and grit.
As bombs fell and disease spread, these women became lifelines on the front lines.
Switchboard Soldiers shines a long-overdue spotlight on the women of the Signal Corps who defied expectations, risked everything, and proved their place in history.
When the call came, they answered. And changed the course of war.
